The expansion of personal computers into homes of average consumers has also expanded the usage of the Internet by such consumers, and with it, has opened a new avenue of shopping, specifically, Internet shopping. Internet shopping, although capable of providing convenient purchasing abilities from one's home with a simple click of a mouse, also supplies numerous downfalls to electronic shopping which affects both consumers and retailers. On the consumer side, the amount of time spent searching for a Web-site offering a desired merchandise or service is highly dependent on the level of the consumer's experience and know-how of Internet shopping. The quality of such Web-site searches also depend on the individual's experience and know-how.
To the unwary and the inexperienced, Internet shopping often proves to be a time-consuming and frustrating experience. Although there are thousands of Internet shopping Web-sites that provide merchandise and/or service information in practically all areas imaginable in addition to providing on-line purchasing abilities, the consumer must first be able to locate a site that meets his or her needs. If a specific Web-site address is not known, the consumer must search for pertinent sites by means of search engines. Devising a search that will be broad enough to result in all sites capable of meeting the consumer's needs but narrow enough to eliminate irrelevant sites may be hard and almost impossible to achieve. Most often, the consumer will settle for a broad search spend considerable amounts of time reviewing and discarding irrelevant sites that have resulted from the search.
There are other downfalls to the described method of searching the Web. For instance, a consumer has no way of knowing, without doing additional time-consuming searches, whether the located site is the best one available to the consumer. Even though a separate Web-site may exist that better caters to the consumer's requirements and preferences, the consumer will not know about such site if it did not result in search conducted. Consequently, the consumer may be forced to purchase a less satisfactory merchandise from a site that the search did provide, or not purchase the product at all, to the detriment of both consumers and retailers.
If a consumer uses the Internet to simply gather information about a desired merchandise and the stores which may carry the merchandise, the searches must also result in Web-sites of retailers geographically close to the consumer. With a list of such retailers, the consumer has a choice of visiting them in person to see and try the actual merchandise before making a purchase. However, adding a geographical limitation to the search makes Internet searching even more difficult and time-consuming.
The above-described problems are amplified if the consumer wants to purchase a merchandise or service that he or she is unfamiliar with, or is not commonly purchased or inquired-about through the Internet. In such a case, even the most experienced Internet shopper may find the searching process frustrating and unfruitful.
Another drawback to Internet shopping is the lack of interaction between consumers and retailers. From the perspective of the consumer, Web-site search results are nothing more than a collection of on-line catalogs. Although a certain degree of product or service information may be provided in the sites, such information will not suffice to answer all the questions that a consumer may have. Thus, during Interent shopping, a consumer has no access to additional information and suggestions that may come from a salesperson as would normally be the case if the purchase were being done in a conventional retail environment.
The lack of interaction between customers and retailers is also a drawback when analyzed from the retailer's point of view. For instance, when a consumer has a choice between two comparable products offered by two different retailers through the Internet, it is often the price which pushes the consumer to purchase one product over the other. This may not always be true, however, if the consumer were to visit the retailers in person. The retailer selling the higher-priced product would, through its salespeople, have the opportunity to differentiate its product over a lower-priced product, and may further be able to emphasize features that will cater to the consumer's particular needs. The opportunity to provide such shopping assistance is not available in current Internet shopping.
The lack of interaction between customers and retailers also makes it difficult for retailers to understand consumer needs and demands. Although a retailer may be able to infer such needs and demands based on consumer surveys, filling out such surveys becomes a hassle and nuisance to the consumer. Another problem due to the lack of interaction is that retailers have no way of knowing the demographics, gender, age, and preferences of purchasers or potential purchasers of particular products when it comes to Internet shopping. Such knowledge of customer profiles may be valuable in improving consumer marketing methods, such as direct mailing, because advertising may then be targeted towards specific types of consumers.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electronic shopping system which is able to allow consumers to locate appropriate merchandise and retailers more effectively through the Internet. Such system should provide a two-way communication between consumers and retailers where merchandise and/or service requests are received from customers, and appropriate retailers which offer the requested merchandise and/or services identified and passed along to the requesting customers. A request should be transmitted to the identified retailers for a proposal of items matching the request from the customer in view of the customer profile information. The proposal of items received from the retailers should then be forwarded to the consumers for their review. The consumers may then decide to make the purchase via the Internet, or visit the retailer in person to see and try the merchandise before making the purchase.